The Secret Room
My best friend Sophia and I did everything together. We loved to go to the movies, the mall, and the beach. There was so much to do in San Diego, California. We've done things together for the past 7 years. It was that way until she came over on the first day of summer vacation. "Hey Valerie, I have some bad news," she said. "What is it?" I asked. "Well, my mom got a promotion, and it's a great thing, except for one little terrible fact," Sophia said. "What could be bad about a promotion? Isn't there a huge raise?" I asked. "The job is in Seattle," she admitted. "What? Does that mean you're moving?" She nodded. "No, you can't move, we're going to be 6th graders!" "I'm going to a new school called Truman Middle," she added. "I can't believe you're moving away! This isn't possible!" I exclaimed. "Well, I have no choice," she said. "Unless..." "Unless what? I have nowhere else to go!" "You can live here!" I suggested. "What? Are you kidding?" she asked. "I can't just move in!" "Sure you can! We have a small door in the basement, and maybe that can be your room," I said. "Are you even sure it's a room?" she asked. "I don't know, let's go find out!" I exclaimed. We went down to the basemen and we opened the door on 3. "Okay, let's go check it out." "Nice," she said. "I can make this a room!" "Yeah! Hey, what's this?" I asked, looking at a wrinkled few pieces of paper. "Looks like some ancient letter," Sophia said. "Yeah, I think it is. I'll show my dad," I said. We went back to planning her room. The next day, Sophia told me her parents approve of her living with me. She brought some of her stuff. We went back down in that room, where we unpacked her stuff. I went and took another look at that letter, and it wrote: "Dear Valerie..." "Hey Soph, check this out," I said. "What? Are you looking at that letter thing again?" she asked. "Yeah! Read what it says." "Okay...I think it says dear Wolerla. Who the heck is Wolerla?" "It doesn't say Wolerla! It says Valerie!" I yelled. Sophia tilted her head and took another look. "Yeah, I guess you're right. What if it's to you?" "That is not possible. How could some old person know about you?" Sophia asked. "I don't know. Let me see who this is from," I said. I flipped through the 4 pages and found the end, saying "Sincerely, Valerie". "Sophia, it's to Valerie from Valerie," I said. "Whoa, that's creepy," she added. "I know. I'll talk to my mom," I said. I went up to talk to her. I showed her the letter, and I saw the shock in her eyes. "That was your great-great grandmother's room when she lived here," she said. "This could be from her to you." "But how is that possible? She wouldn't have known I would exist," I said. "Well, true, but I believe your 5th great grandmother's name was Valerie. We have a tradition with that name in the family. She wanted to pass the letter on to the next Valerie in the family," mom added. "Then why is your name Laura?" I asked. "I don't know, ask your grandma! I didn't make the tradition! I barely understand it!" mom said. I went to explain this to Sophia, and once I finished, she looked 100% confused. "Okay... huh?" "It's a letter to me from my great great grandmother!" I said. "But how would she know about you? She died like 30 years before you were born!" Sophia said. "Let me explain this to you slowly..." TBC...